Philosophy 1301
[Date]
Nietzsche’s “Parable of the Death of God”
Frederick Nietzsche claims to have “discovered” the death of God, and delivers this
message in the form of a parable he has written. I believe what Nietzsche means by the death of
God is the prediction of the decline in Christianity today and that the idea of God has lost its full
power in modern times due to the lack of true faith in God. Ultimately he says our beliefs lie in
scientific progress rather than in religious themes, due to the “herd morality” and the way that we
no longer value our religious beliefs as we once did. In the parable, the madman says that “We
have killed him – you and I.” I believe what Nietzsche means by that is the fact that we have less
and less faith in God in terms of humanity as a whole, and more in the scientific and
technological progress overall by the way that we do not practice true worship. We go to church
to worship, but he says that we do so falsely and not with any real authentic meaning. He says
that we have killed God by our lack of morality and that God only exists in the minds of His
believers, and due to the rise of the scientific community we would no longer have a need for
God in this day and age. Nietzsche says that those who will be born after us will be part of a
higher history partly due to the belief that we would not have a God to believe in, and we would
only have ourselves to answer to. He says this in reference to his “Overman” theory, stating that
in our day and age we would not have someone like this in place like a God or at least other than
ourselves to answer to, which could lead to nihilism for the masses. When the madman says he
has come too early, I believe what he is saying is that the news of the death of God has not
reached the masses yet and we have not realized it. He goes on to say “the tremendous event is
still on its way” which gives proof to this meaning, and would go on to say that “it has not yet
[Date]
Nietzsche’s “Parable of the Death of God”
Frederick Nietzsche claims to have “discovered” the death of God, and delivers this
message in the form of a parable he has written. I believe what Nietzsche means by the death of
God is the prediction of the decline in Christianity today and that the idea of God has lost its full
power in modern times due to the lack of true faith in God. Ultimately he says our beliefs lie in
scientific progress rather than in religious themes, due to the “herd morality” and the way that we
no longer value our religious beliefs as we once did. In the parable, the madman says that “We
have killed him – you and I.” I believe what Nietzsche means by that is the fact that we have less
and less faith in God in terms of humanity as a whole, and more in the scientific and
technological progress overall by the way that we do not practice true worship. We go to church
to worship, but he says that we do so falsely and not with any real authentic meaning. He says
that we have killed God by our lack of morality and that God only exists in the minds of His
believers, and due to the rise of the scientific community we would no longer have a need for
God in this day and age. Nietzsche says that those who will be born after us will be part of a
higher history partly due to the belief that we would not have a God to believe in, and we would
only have ourselves to answer to. He says this in reference to his “Overman” theory, stating that
in our day and age we would not have someone like this in place like a God or at least other than
ourselves to answer to, which could lead to nihilism for the masses. When the madman says he
has come too early, I believe what he is saying is that the news of the death of God has not
reached the masses yet and we have not realized it. He goes on to say “the tremendous event is
still on its way” which gives proof to this meaning, and would go on to say that “it has not yet